City students learn about health care careers

Rising juniors from both Lexington and Thomasville city schools spent a majority of their first day at Camp Med at Wake Forest Baptist Health — Lexington Medical Center.

BY DENEESHA EDWARDSThe Dispatch

An employee in the emergency department of Wake Forest Baptist Health — Lexington Medical Center told a group of students Monday, "If you like school and you like to learn … the medical field is for you. You have a lot of continuing education."Rising juniors from both Lexington and Thomasville city schools spent a majority of their first day at Camp Med at the hospital. The program focuses on educating, recruiting and introducing high school students to the variety of jobs in the health care profession. Students in the county system attended the same camp last week.At the hospital, students toured the facilities and listened to personnel with the emergency and radiology departments, as well as the rehab, wound and pediatric centers."I wanted to see how the hospital was run with doctors and nurses and how they worked together," said Lexington Senior High School rising junior Toni Rogers. "I plan on attending Winston-Salem State University for nursing. I like being around people and helping people. The nurses keep stressing it's a team effort. That makes me feel better knowing I will not be on my own."The three-day program introduces the students to various medical-related careers. "I felt I could learn a lot," Rogers said about her reason for attending. "I'm trying to pay attention to the nurses to see if I'm ready for this."Keisha Lopez, another LSHS rising junior, is thinking about a career as an obstetrician-gynecologist. She said the camp was pretty interesting."It's a nice opportunity to see if I would like the medical field. It's really great for students who may think they want to come into the field because you get insight to see if you like it or not."The rest of the camp will be spent at Davidson County Community College where students will have the opportunity to tour several programs at the school. Students will visit Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem on Wednesday.A grant from the Northwest Area Health Education Center takes care of the program. Students had to complete an application stating their reasons for wanting to participate and display an interest in the health care field. Thomasville High School rising junior Araceli Flores hopes to learn about different careers and see the work environment in the medical field. She's considering being a pediatric dentist or pediatrician. "I like it," she said about the program. "It's a nice job shadowing experience. It's a good opportunity because you can see if this works with your personality or if you need to choose another (career). You also get to learn the type of schooling or education that is needed."Deneesha Edwards can be reached at 249-3981, ext. 213, or at deneesha.edwards@the-dispatch.com.